Fauna Series No. 1 Cover Contents Foreword Approach Methods Analysis Conspectus Suggested Policy

Fauna of the National Parks of the United States PROBLEMS OF COMPETITIVE ORIGIN PASTURING OF SADDLE HORSES (15) One of the accompaniments of man in the park has been the occupation of the range by horses, which are kept both as an administrative necessity and for recreational use. Nevertheless, there is a certain inconsistency in use of the park range by this stock. Man does not maintain himself in the park at the expense of that park's resources. With this single exception, everything that is needed for human use is brought in from the outside. There is no more reason why the native range of the game should be used to support the horses which man rides than that it should be utilized to feed cattle to provide meat and drink, or plowed up to raise vegetables. The practice of importing finished foods so that nothing will be taken from the park is so much a matter of custom that the costliness is borne without question. Should not the same principle apply to the sustaining of livestock? Horses impose a heavy drain upon the resources of the range. Scarcity of winter range is one of the most important wild life problems in nearly all of the parks. The forage utilized by the stock must be paid for later on by artificial winter feeding of game. NEXT> EFFECTS FROM THE MANNER OF WILD-LIFE PRESENTATION (16)

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